Railroad snow-plow



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`1\I0.400,582. Patented Apr. 2, 1889. Y

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" ATTORNEYS. a

[UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

I CHARLES AAUGUSTUS MCCARTHY AND JOHN PATRICK MORAN, OF SAUIJT DE STE. MARIE, MICHIGAN.

RAILROAD SNOW-PLOW.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 400,582, dated April 2, 1889. Application filed october 5, 188s. salaire. 287,313. (Numan.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it knownthat we, CHARLES AUGUSTUS MCCARTHY and J oHN` PATRICK MORAN, of Sault de Ste. Marie, in the county of Chippewa and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Improvement inv Railroad Snow- Plows, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Our invention relates to an improvement in railroad snow-plows, and has for its object to provide a plow of simple and durable construction in which little weight or friction will be sustained by the plow when in operation; and a further objectV of the invention is to provide a means whereby snow may be thrown a great distance from the track, and wherein the mechanism 'employed to manipulate the snow will be driven independently of the engine pushing the plow and driven independently` of the engine of the train or the engine employed to push the plow.

The invention consists in the construction and combination .of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specication, inv which similar igures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the plow. Fig. 2 is a horizontal .longitudinal section; and Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the plow.

In carrying out the invention the body 10 of the plow is constructed in substantially the form of a box-car provided with suitable doors and windows and mounted upon trucks 1 1 of any approved construction. At the forward end of the body 10 the nose 12 of the plow is attached, consisting of a series of steel-plates so arranged as to form essentially a triangle, the base of which is attached to Vcent to the iiy-wheel.

caved, as shown at 14 in Fig. 2, and the said triangular nose is braced longitudinally and transversely by a series of timbers or trusses, 15, of suitable size, arranged within and attached to the plates in any approved manner. The top 16 of the body is usually projected forward to constitute the top of the nose, and the said nose may be provided with a covering independent of the covering of the body. Within the sides of the nose, preferably at or near the center, shafts 17 and 18 are respectively journaled, and to the outer end of the said shafts a hub, 19, is rigidly secured, and a series of spaced twisted arms, 20, are projected from the said hub, as best shown in Fig. 1. The hub and arms are preferably constructed of steel, and blades 21 are rig idly attached to the said arms by bolts or other equivalent fastening devices. blades are given a pitch best adapted to the angle at which the snow is to be thrown.

Within the body the boiler 22 is located, of sufficientY capacity to supply steam to three engines, 23, 24., and 25, also situated within the body. The engines 23 and 24, which are illustrated as rotary engines, are placed one at each side of the body and at the forward end, and the third engine, 25, which is represented as a horizontal engine, is located in 'front of the boiler and in the center of the body, as best shown in Fig. 2; Steam is supplied to the side or rotary engines 'through the medium of pipes 26, and the horizontal engine is supplied with steam from the said boiler through the medium of a pipe, 27.

The shafts of each of the rotary engines are provided with a sprocket-wheel, 28, and a similar sprocket-wheel, 29, is made fast to the main shaft of the horizontal engine adja- Upon the inner projecting ends of the wheel-shafts 17 and 18 smaller sprocket-wheels, 30, are secured,which sprocket wheels are connected with the sprocket-wheels 28 of the rotary engines by chain belts 31 passing over suitable frictionrollers, 32, located within the nose. A

When the drift is very deep, two ext-ra snowwheels, 38, are employed, located above the center of the nose at the forward or cutting edge, and near the top. The said wheels,

The v IOO which are constructed in similar manner to the main or side snow-wheels, are secured, respectively, one at each end of a shaft, 34, journaled transversely in the nose, and the said shaft 34 within the nose is provided with au attached sprocket-\vheel, 35, connected by a chain belt, 36, with the sprocket-wheel 29 of the horizontal engine. It will thus be observed from the foregoing description that the two side snow-wheels are each rotated from a separate engine and that an independent engine is also provided to manipulate the upper set of snow-wheels, which are preferably of less diameter than the side wheels. This construction relieves the engine of the train, or the engine employed to push the plow, of considerable work.

IVe desire it to be distinctly understood that the pitch of the blades of the several snow-wheels may be varied from the pitch illustrated, and that othersuitable connection may be made, if desired, between the several wheels and their respective engines.

It is obvious that as the plow is pushed through the drift the cutting-edge of the nose or mold-board will divide the snow as it advances, and that the several wheels, which are driven at a rate of two hundred or more revolutions a minute, will blow the light snow at each side of the track, and if the snow is hard will throw it from one hundred and twentyve to one hundred and fifty feet away.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. In a railroad snowplow, the combination, with the body having a vertical wedge-shaped mold-board at its front end, of vertically-rotating snow-wheels on the two faces of said mold-board and the smaller vertically-rotating snow-wheels in front of and above the lower wheels, substantially as set forth.

2. In a railroad snow-plow, the combination, with a box-like body and a triangular moldboard secured to the forward end of the same, provided with concave sides and a concave forward cutting-edge, of horizontal shafts j ournaled in the sides of the mold-board, a hub secured to the outer extremity of each shaft,

twisted spaced arms radiating from said hubs, twisted blades detachably attached to the said arms, a boiler and two engines located within the body, saidengines being connected with the said boiler, and means, substantially as shown and described, of connecting the several engines with the several shafts, as and for the purpose specified.

3. In a railroad snow-plow, the combination, with a boXlilre body and a triangular mold board attached to the forward end of the same, provided with concave sides and a concave cutting-edge, of a snowwheel provided with twisted blades journaled in the sides of the mold-board at the center, a shaft journaled transversely in the forward upper edge of the said mold-board, small snow-wheels also provided with twisted blades attached to the extremities of the said shaft, and means, substantially as shown and described, for inde pendently rotating the side wheels and the upper shaft carrying the small snow-wheels, as and for the purpose specified,

4. In a railroad snow-plow, the combination, with a box-like body containing a boiler and three independent engines and a triangular mold-board secured to the forward end of the said body, provided with concave sides and a concave forward cutting-edge, of a longitudinal shaft journaled in each side of the moldboard at the center, a hub secured to the outer extremity of each of said shafts, twisted spaced arms projected from the hub, and twisted blades detachably attached to the said arms, a single transverse shaft journaled in the forward end of the mold-board near the top, provided at each extremity with an attached snow-wheel provided With detachable twisted blades, and a connection, substantially as shown and described, between the several engines and the boiler and the several shafts and the several engines, as and for the purpose specified.

CHARLES AUGUSTUS MCCARTHY. JOHN PATRICK MORAN.

Witnesses:

ROBERT F. BERDIE, HENRY M. DORRILL. 

